Vaibhav Bahadur (VB)

Associate Professor, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Vaibhav Bahadur (VB) is an Associate Professor and Carl J. Eckhardt Fellow in Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin. His research interests are in the areas of thermal-fluids sciences, materials chemistry, machine learning and micro-nanofabriction. His group conducts fundamental and applied research with applications in energy-water systems, carbon capture and sequestration, hydrogen and thermal management. 

Prof. Bahadur has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a Postdoc from Harvard University. Additionally, he has 4 years of industry R&D experience at GE Global Research and Baker Hughes. Prof. Bahadur is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2017), the SPE Petroleum Engineering Young Faculty Award (2015), the ASME ICNMM Outstanding Early Career Award (2018), the Google Faculty Research Award (2018), and the ACS Doctoral New Investigator Award (2014). He is the winner of the Society of Petroleum Engineer’s R&D Competition at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (2014). Technology developed in his lab was tested on the International Space Station in 2017. 

Prof. Bahadur has authored 60 journal articles (h-index of 27), 35 articles in conference proceedings, 1 book chapter, and has 9 patents issued or pending. His research has been featured on the cover of ASME’s Mechanical Engineering magazine, cover of journals (ACS Nano, Advanced Optical Materials) and in R&D magazine. His research has been highlighted in international news media (NBC, Washington Post). He teaches courses in the areas of heat transfer and fluid mechanics.





vb@austin.utexas.edu

Significant publications:

  1. Kar A., Acharya P. V., Bhati A., Mhadeshwar A., Venkataraman P., Barckholtz T., Celio H., Mangolini F. and Bahadur V. Magnesium-promoted rapid nucleation of carbon dioxide hydrates. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 9, 33, 2021.
  2. Lokanathan M., Acharya P., Ouroua H., Strank S., Hebner R. and Bahadur V. Review of nanocomposite dielectric materials with high thermal conductivity. Proceedings of the IEEE, 109, 8, 2021.
  3. Kar A. and Bahadur V. Using excess natural gas for reverse osmosis-based flowback water treatment in US shale fields. Energy, 117145, 2020.
  4. Wikramanayake E., Acharya P. V., Kapner M. and Bahadur V. Green hydrogen-based energy storage in Texas for decarbonization of the electric grid. IEEE Green Technologies Conference, 2021 (online).
  5. Wikramanayake E., Ozkan O. and Bahadur V. Landfill gas-powered atmospheric water harvesting for oilfield operations in the United States. Energy, 138, 647-658, 2017.
  6. Acharya, P.V., Lokanathan M. Ouroua, A. Hebner, R. Strank, S and Bahadur V. Assessing the impact of novel polymers and thermal management in a power electronics module using machine learning approaches. Proceedings of IEEE ITherm, 2021 (online).
  7. Acharya P. V. and Bahadur V. Fundamental interfacial mechanisms underlying electrofreezing. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 251, 26-43, 2018.
  8. Lokanathan, M., Sharma, H., Shabaka, M., Mohanty, K. and Bahadur, V., 2019. Comparing electrowettability and surfactants as tools for wettability enhancement on a hydrophobic surface. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 124155. 2019.
  9. Shahriari A., Hermes M. and Bahadur V. Electrical control and enhancement of boiling heat transfer during quenching. Applied Physics Letters, 108, 091607, 2016.
  10. Wikramanayake E. and Bahadur V. Electrowetting-based enhancement of droplet growth dynamics and heat transfer during humid air condensation. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 140, 260-268 (4), 2019.